Monday, July 15, 2013

I’ve made hundreds of different marinades over the
years, but for some reason, cola had not appeared in any of them.
One reason is that I never drink soda, so it’s simply not around, but above and
beyond that, it always sounded more like a gimmick to me, invented by some
marketing guru at Coke. Boy, was I wrong.

This coffee and cola marinated skirt steak was the most delicious thing I’ve grilled all year.
The cola provides a unique sweetness, which is balanced beautifully by the
bitterness from the coffee and dark grill marks. The marinade (probably
technically a brine) made the already uber-juicy skirt steak even more so, as
well as absolutely fork tender.There wasn’t anything I didn’t love about this recipe.

Speaking of fork tender, this is dependent on two key
things – that you slice the meat against the grain, and you don’t
cook it too rare. As you’ll see in the video, it will be very obvious which
direction you need to slice, so that shouldn’t be an issue. As far as doneness
goes, I really think that somewhere around medium produces the ultimate
skirt steak texture.

I have no problem with rare meat, but rare skirt steak can
be chewy, and you also want enough heat to melt the marvelously marbled meat’s
fat. In fact, I’d take a medium-well piece over a rare piece any day, and I
can’t think of another cut of beef where I’d say the same thing.

So, if you’re looking for something a little different at
your next backyard barbecue, I really hope you give this grilled coffee and
cola marinated skirt steak a try. It was amazing. Enjoy!

This sounds awesome and I can't wait to try it. How much of a cardinal sin would it be to use instant coffee? My other half and I are tea drinkers, and the only coffee we have in the house are those instant packets made by that ever present company with the green and white logo named after the dude (or chick!) from Battlestar Galactica. Will instant be acceptable or would it be better to procure a fresh cup from our local barista?

^ I found the dominating taste to be cola, and it was very off-putting for me. I'm generally a fan of strange recipes and I'm one of the least picky eaters you'll meet, but I felt like I ruined a good piece of meat on this one. Just that sweet, cola taste dominating the meat was not at all appetizing. My roommate liked it, so I guess there's that.

^Jeremy, what kind of cola did you use? I used Coke, and I just finished reducing the sauce and I can't really taste the cola in it. I have had better results with Coke with meat than Pepsi (I use Coke with my pulled pork, I have used Pepsi once before and the end result was unsettlingly cola flavored!)

Dude, Chef, how in more than 30 years on this earth could I have not thought of putting the thin side of the meat on top of another piece of meat on the grill so it doesn't overcook? You are an inspiration. - And I'm writing you this because like me, you wrote or said once that at least five times a day you see something and ask yourself, "Why didn't I think of that?"

I made this recipe for dinner tonight. And although the flavor was great, it was a little tough. I marinated it for 8 hours. The peach slaw saved me but I'm wondering if next time I should use a more tender cut of meat. Any suggestions?

Oh. My. Gawd. You are so very awesome! I have used your recipes for a long time, but this is one of my absolute favs...that marinade, yummy! Skirt steak is my favorite cut but I always had problems with the chewiness because I do like me some rare almost mooing red meat. Thank you Chef John the Awesome for sharing all your recipes and mad skills! Keep them coming!

You never disappoint me Chef John! I was a little skeptical about this marinade because lets face it, its weird and it smelled funny ...lol. However, I cannot rave enough how freakin fantastic it really was! The sauce, ohhhh the sauce - it smelled funny while I was reducing it but once it was done and made love to the steak, it was money! Yum, yum, yum!!! Thank you! No really, thank you because with your videos and recipes that I have been trying, I look like a rockstar to my husband.

By the way - I did not have any rosemary on hand so I threw in a litte dried thyme instead.

Ah okay, well that would explain it! What a bummer but glad to hear at least I wasn't losing my mind looking for something that wasn't there! :) Maybe I'll try looking on Craigslist or something for a used charcoal version. Thanks again!